bodies bodies bodies

fun slasher-ish flick with characters that teeter dangerously between hilarious and annoying. the final reveal to this is really good, and I liked the creative use of lighting. a fair helping of insufferable rich gen z'ers, but the cast plays their parts very well. I relate deeply to the one thirty-something in the group.

together

caught an advanced screening of this because I was sooooo in love with the concept from the moment I saw the first teaser. and it was almost everything I wanted. I do wish it had gone a little more insane with the body horror but it was pretty gross in parts (said affectionately). huge win for people who thought sweet pool's red road ending was peak romance (I'm people)

I know what you did last summer (2025)

perfectly servicable turn your brain off slasher. some of the attempts to ~modernize~ the story are a little cringy, and the inclusion of the legacy characters feels a little too self-indulgent of the movie. still, some solid kills and solid effects to go with them. nothing like, spectacular enough to stick with me though.

saw V

not my favorite of the saws so far. the trap plot and the cop plot parts are too disconnected, and even though I like parts of them individually, it's missing the interweaving of plot thread bullshit (said affectionately) that previous saws had. still, the more I think about the premise of the trap plot the more it compells me...

prey

I really wish this movie had been in theaters!! it would have really thrived with a big audience... I really enjoyed the main characters and the physical stunts were great. I thought it was a really cool setting also; gorgeous shots of landscapes. I don't know much about the predator mythos but I think this film was pretty friendly even as a newcomer to the series.

saw IV

I have a copy of saw IV that is signed by tobin bell and shawnee smith. had to bring that up at some point in my hot saw summer watch series. I don't loveeee hoffman as an apprentice but I did enjoy the intertwining of saw 3 and saw 4... this is where I feel the saw movies really start to reach peak soap opera complicated plot bullshit.

saw III

I think I could like this movie more if they didn't 1) kill off detective kerry and 2) if we had literally anyone else as the protagonist other than jeff. the jigsaw and amanda dynamic is fun, and I like lynn's side of the trap plot. but my godddddd does jeff piss me offfffff. the rack and the angel trap are top tier.

dashcam

I wish I could give a movie negative stars on letterboxed. like. I try to find a kernel of something good in a movie and there really wasn't anything here. I almost turned it off in the first 10 minutes because the main character was just spouting insufferable right-wing bullshit nonstop. the rest of the movie was so boring. there's not even a dashcam in it!!

m3gan 2.0

this isn't like. a good movie. and I can fully understand why it flopped at the box office. but I have come around to m3gan and to some extent it is fun to turn my brain off and revel in stupid killer robot movie. it is pretty disappointing that they dropped the horror aspect almost entirely though. still, it was fun to watch in theaters! I will also keep lining up to watch m3gan do shit.

coming home in the dark

I saved this movie for last out of the 2022 dead meat horror award nominees, mainly because I heard it was bleak and I wasn't sure I had it in me to watch a real bummer. and yeah, it was sure bleak, but it also ramped up really fast and then plateaued for a while? so not as upsetting for me than if the big punches were set in the middle or end of the movie. the performances of the actors were captivating...

censor

really unique & interesting topic for a horror movie... it could have just gone into "censorship is evil" but it didnt and I appreciate that. definitely a movie where the more I think about it the more I like it. the ending felt a little messy but almost... intentionally messy? and some of the earlier parts by contrast are almost too subdued. the look and feel of the movie is great tho, some actual VHS footage in there.

candyman

there is a lot to enjoy in this movie. the practical effects. the framing of the shots. the shadow puppet segments RULE. I did also really enjoy the slow burn and gradually unfolding of the mystery of it... there were a few scenes that felt really disconnected from the plot and only there to pad the body count. also, the last act was rushed to the point where I had to rewind and rewatch because I assumed I missed something, but it really was that abrupt of an ending.

jakob's wife

I wish I liked this more!! I loved barbara crampton in this and how crazy bloody some of the kills and practical effects are. the master looked really silly though, and the general tone of the movie vacillated wildly between serious and comedic, and it felt me not knowing how to feel. which is a shame, because I feel like there is a throughline of female empowerment that is really fun! but it wasnt committed to enough.

titane

I love weird french horror. I knew vaguely what happened in this movie and it still took me on a ride. no pun intended. the titular titane doesn't seem to have an end goal in sight and surrenders to her impulses, which would maybe annoy me in any other film. in titane, however, the craziness is augmented by some really gruesome body horror and vulnerable, authentic perfomances from the lead actors. so in a weird way, it all feels balanced...

saw II

the saw franchise is like a brother to me (spiral do NOT interact). I love how insufferable jigsaw is in this movie and amanda's everything. opening trap is one of The Greats imo. I really love the stupid fucking montage at the end showing us everything that happened in the last 90 minutes. xavier is also a really good secondary antagonist.

the blackening

watched for juneteenth! squarely on the comedy side of horror-comedy, unfortunate for me but I am also Very Ok with this movie not being aimed at me. I do think all the characters were fun and believable even if all the humor didn't land with me. I wish there was more of the titual board game though - before watching this I thought it would be an evil analog game type movie along the lines of ready or not or like, jumanji. but it wasnt.

bring her back

I really enjoyed talk to me even if it did kind of explode me so I was excited to see another movie by the philippou brothers. the plot for this is pretty straightforward, but that doesn't mean it was boring. really great performances from all the actors. overall it was pretty bleak but there were some really funny moments as I expected from watching talk to me. absolutely love depictions of grief that drive people insane. I even felt bad for the antagonist in this. diabolical untouched needledrop.

the forever purge

little less funny watching this in 2025 when the president of the US has proposed a purge in one of his rallies. stares into the sunset for an uncomfortablely long time. that being said this also is a little less interesting than any other purge movie only because there is like. very little about the purge in here. this is just people doing crimes!! like regular crimes!! uh it was nice when the racists died. thats most of what this movie has going for it.

slumber party massacre (2021)

another Really Okay horror movie in my bin. this does feel more in line with what the original slumber party massacre was intended to be before executive meddling, but with a little more wink wink nudge nudge than playing it straightforward. I do think the movie knows that it is a little stupid at times and kind of revels in that stupidity. plus I can never be completely mad at a movie that has gratuitous man ass so like.

superhost

another kinda dumb movie where I kinda really wanted the main characters to die because they pissed me off. gracie gillam was fantastic in her role and made the movie worth watching. influencers piss me off. the scenery and house were lovely and I wish I could have appreciated them more but they were kinda ruined by the characters who weren't the titular superhost. the deaths were kinda so-so, but I think had I gone in knowing that the influencers were going to die I would have enjoyed it more LOL

there's someone inside your house

letterboxd consensus made me think I would hate this. but I didn't hate it As Much as I thought I would. its definitely not good. but there are a handful of fun moments in there. and the gay and nonbinary characters get to survive to the end. even if like. they arent great representation it's something. but other than that yeah it's a pretty by the books slasher that sometimes deviates from the formula in ways that. really do not make sense. kind of baffling.

fear street: 1666

this was the most satisfying of the trilogy because we finally get the lore behind the ghost/witch who has been haunting the narrative... and it's tragic yuris. admittedly also it makes me a little teary eyed to think of sarah fier, who was persecuted for her sexuality, get to see lesbians finally break the curse that was cast over shadyside 300 years ago... also fear street said ACAB baby!!!

fear street: 1978

I liked this one a bit more than 1994. the characters felt more "real" for lack of a better word. also I thought the concept of normal guy transforming into an axe murderer against his will was interesting to watch. the ending scene did genuinely move me even if that one girl's survival felt more than a little unrealistic.

fear street: 1994

finally tackling the fear street series. the first one is the most by the books in terms of tropes, but it was still fun. some gnarly kills, and I am Always willing to hype up horror movies that have lgbt characters that Don't Die. unfortunately aside from the lesbians the rest of the characters aren't really enjoyable and feel like they are there to pad the kills. I thought the sunnyside vs shadyside dichotomy was interesting.

spiral: from the book of saw

yikesssssssss this was baaaadddddddd. how are you going to make a saw movie that makes the traps feel like an afterthought. I get that its not quite supposed to be a saw movie but I miss billy the puppet and john kramer. chris rock's brand of comedy does Not vibe with me so I spent most of this movie cringing from the dialogue than the trap scenes. also idk I think the villain of this movie was in the right. could have gone further. legally that is a joke.

slaxx

another one from the dead meat horror awards. very silly premise that was also an extremely biting criticism of the fast fashion industry. was it a little too heavy handed? perhaps. but it did feel genuine instead of a cash grab. the ending was kinda bleak though and felt like it clashed with the rest of movie in terms of tone. also I Know I keep glazing practical effects in my reviews but like. it is really funny to see the behind the scenes of guys in green suits puppeteering the evil pants.

a nightmare on elm street

may 2025's horror movie club pick! since eraserhead kinda exploded me in april I wanted something sillier for the next movie... freddy isn't my favorite slasher, but I can absolutely see how he became an iconic villain in the slasher pantheon. nancy is such a good final girl and I am choosing to discount the weird ass ending LMAO. always thought nightmares were a cool concept to delve into for horror stories and this delivered on that.

mr. crocket

what if something made for children was actually EVIL and FUCKED UP. I didn't hate it I just felt like it was lacking aside from the titular crocket's peformance. like you can very much tell its a made for tv movie. the practical effects were fun!! and the one kill with the bubbles was really cool and suited the villain compared to some of the other kills that were less playful, for lack of a better word.

pg: psycho goreman

I thought I was gonna hate this aside from the practical effects. but it ended up leaning into the ham enough that it looped all the way around to being so stupid its fun. the main character was really annoying but unfortunately she reminded me of My Annoying Freak OC so I loved her because of that. would never want to meet her in real life. also yeah the practical monsters rule.

the night house

this movie utilized negative space in a really cool way. I thought it tried to tackle too many plot threads in the movie, so it kinda felt more scenery than substance at times. I really thought that this was gonna go into some house of leaves type shit but it left that plot point on the table, tragic. always love seeing original horror movies, and the monster was definitely original and neat to watch...

army of the dead

back to watching past nominees for dead meat horror awards. this one was nominated for digital effects since they had to replace a whole ass actor. also a zombie tiger that looked cool as fuck. as for everything else about the movie. uhhhhhhh. it was kinda bad. like. maybe there's a good 90 minute movie hidden somewhere in these 148 minutes. there's gotta be, with the concept of "heist movie in a zombie apocalypse". but it was all just so boring!!! what happened here...

final destination bloodlines

I watched this in theaters and didn't think too much about it but then a week later I was still thinking about it (mainly the deaths). so I guess it did have a little something extra to it... probably just the crazy rube goldberg setups for characters getting killed that tickled my brain. but I do also think that there was some genuine heart behind this movie. R.I.P tony todd.

heretic

I watched like the first 30 minutes of this and thought it was really teeing up to be something fantastic. and then it kinda fell apart entirely in the latter half. really great performances from the leads, but kinda tried to make Too Many Twists in the end for it to be coherent.

MadS

french horror movies man. the gimmick for this one was that it was a 90 minute one take, and the director insists that there were no cuts. that gives the viewer the POV of a disembodied observer of this crazy night, and I think the film is hampered by not being able to get into any of the characters heads. I wasn't ever bored watching it, though.

what we do in the shadows

extremely charming and fun; I loved seeing the vampires from different eras bounce off each other. a good combination of the mundane and the weird that kept it interesting. this is what the rise of leslie vernon should have been like imo. stu is my goat.

eraserhead

watched for a monthly movie club! when I say movies need to be weirder, I feel like eraserhead is the gold standard. finally a movie I walked out of and felt like. yeah that was weird enough for me. also strangely one of the scariest movies I've ever watched, despite not that much happening that is "traditionally" scary. all of the elements of the movie combined to make something So Full of Dread. fantastic movie. can not watch again because I fear it will give me a panic attack

sinners

went and saw this on a whim after nearly everyone else who is a movie guy in my sphere told me it was good and that i Needed to see it. and yeah absolutely. I get it. i get it. beautiful cinematography, beautiful soundtrack, beautiful effects work. there's one scene in there where like. this is Peak Cinema. slow burn that pays off well. only reason it's not getting five hearts is because it doesn't cater to my particular horror tastes (I'm more of a slasher/body horror guy) but it is a must watch.

gremlins

watched this with friends at a hotel in orlando... the practical effects in this are masterful. they really do not make them like this anymore.. i would do anything for gizmo. also a comedic horror movie that I enjoyed! which is rare because I'm picky about my comedy LOL.

mickey 17

i need robert pattinson to keep taking "weird" roles forever. I thought this was a charming, unsubtle satire of Current Events. I do kinda wish it had gotten weirder!! even with as blunt as the messaging was it still felt restrained in a weird way... got a little messy towards the end trying to tie everything up but it was still enjoyable

conclave

the poster for this movie goes crazy, first of all. second of all this had been on my list for a while because I am an ex catholic and I thought that would give me an interesting perspective. and I was right but also I was deeply invested in this for numerous reasons. like it tackles sooooo many interesting things like having a crisis of faith and corruption in the church and the role of the sisters in the conclave to keep things running but to be unobtrusive. the end choice being something that people were comfortable with because it wasn't radical. but actually it was.

I am. kind of legitmately upset with some parts of the internet for watering it down into just "mean girls but make it priests" because it is. so much more than that. maybe I will rewatch it and take notes to write a longer review on it.

the thing

can you believe that even with me being a body horror aficionado it took until 2025 for me to watch the thing. anyways this is a classic for a reason. insane practical effects, effective tension building, literally what else would you want in a horror movie. they really don't make them like this anymore.

the monkey

the monkey fucking cooks!!!! I had been highly anticipating this one and I was extremely delighted by it. exactly the type of over the top slapstick violence I was looking for... it was extremely silly and unserious and I think if you go on not expecting like. a zillion plot twists you will have fun. somewhere in there there's a satire on the trope of passing down trauma through generations that some other horror movies have poked at but it's not super deep. and that is OK!

heart eyes

oh heart eyes... this wasn't like. a particularly Great movie. but it was extremely targeted to me. I think I would have preferred a little more horror over romance because it felt like a 40/60 split. it had a little freak in a mask though that I thought was super cutiepie AND a yandere4yandere freak4freak couple in it so like. I was fed.

anora

mikey madison!! mikey madison!!! mikey fucking madison!!! she was absolutely electric in this and I cannot wait to see what she is cast in next. a spectacular display of colors and lights and material excess. explosively funny and sad in equal proportions. I do have some critiques about the themes and ending in particular but I just loved madison so much in this that I am willing to overlook any flaws in the film.

companion

maybe I enjoyed companion more because I had watched flight risk not even a week before it. ummmm I can't say much about this movie because I think it is best experienced blind and the trailers give away too much. suffice to say I enjoyed it a lot and I believe in women's wrongs.

flight risk

had a $5 ticket deal for this and I was mildly interested in the concept of a movie set in one location, and for the most part they stuck to that, which I thought was neat. unfortunately pretty much everything else about this was kind of poop. like the spectacle impressed me in the moment but the more I thought about the plot the more I was like wow that was dumb. and all for nothing in the end really. also like unexpectedly large amount of sexual harrassment comments??? I don't think that was necessary.

death becomes her

so like, we can all agree that sabrina carpenter's taste music video was very inspired by this movie, right? I was able to catch this in theaters thanks to alamo drafthouse's queer cinema series and I had a blast. this is camp. isabella as lisle shines especially but all the performances from the main leads are baller.

wolf man

first movie I watched in theaters in 2025 was a perfectly okay creature feature. the practical effects were cool, but some of the digital effects were straight butt and ass. there was not enough wolf to wolf man imo... the perfomance and story was extremely okay. like nothing groundbreaking but not the worst thing ever.

reunion

first new movie for 2025! this movie was maybe a little too cereberal for me to watch on a bus ride but I did think it was interesting and gave me things to marinate on. the ending sequence was kind of batshit and I don't 100% understand it but I always love when directors take wild swings.

little shop of horrors (1986)

I've watched this before a couple years ago but as it turns out I watched the original ending and the version I watched this time was the theatrical ending. I prefer the original ending more but I think it's nice to have seen both. practical effects are fantastic; the acting is campy; the songs are great. seymour was the Original poor little meow meow.

benny loves you

horror comedy is always hit or miss with me, leaning more on the side of miss. but, I am determined to move my way through dead meat awards nominees so I gave this a try. the effects of the titular benny are really good for being done by one guy, but the rest of the movie is lacking. maybe british humor just isn't for me! the love interest also is just. what does she see in this guy. they have ZERO chemistry and that was maybe the thing that pissed me off the most.

azrael

I don't think I fully understood the plot of this movie and part of that was that there was no dialogue at all from the main characters so the story was told more obliquely than other movies. still, I had a fun time and I thought the monsters were interestingly weird and creepy. samara weaving did a great job, as she always does.

nosferatu

absolutely visually stunning. didn't click with me as much as it did other people, which I really wish it did!! knockout performances from all the cast. did give me things to chew on mentally regarding what everything was supposed to represent. I wish it were weirder, I guess.

old

The Beach That Makes You Old. this movie wasn't good necessarily but it was entertaining. like, no one in this movie talks like a real human being. they try to explain the mechanics of the beach to guard against internet nitpickers while still missing a lot of (obvious imo) unexplained things. it feels almost like a stageplay at some points. I don't Love this movie but it was kind of uniquely bizzare and that made it interesting.

escape room: tournament of champions

like the original escape room there are a lot of really cool set pieces! and a lot of Just Okay other things. it is approaching camp though with having this all powerful secret organization that can do anything ever and I kind of get a kick out of that LMAO. I would not survive this escape rooms tho rip.

escape room

another horror movie that has extremely good set pieces and kind of middling everything else. the characters in this one were at least more enjoyable compared to the deep house. the ending was a little weird but I'll give points for making it a little more than just "strangers go through escape rooms and die"

the deep house

almost entirely carried by the setting, because a house that's deep underwater is cool as fuck on its own. kind of generic-y otherwise, with another guy going haha I want to film this for Viewsss (which is the modern excuse for found footage films). realistically I would have hit the bricks like 10 minutes into exploring the Clearly Evil Underwater House. the boyfriend character pissed me off.

the lighthouse

a movie that was entirely up my alley. definetely kind of a slow burn, but once the train comes off the rails it's an absolutely delightful surreal piece of cinema. the acting is great, the visuals are great. required more Thinking for me to be able to understand the plot but once I got it I realized the genius of it. I think I would want it to be even weirder but it's already teetering on the edge of alienating a lot of people LOL

evil dead rise

a fun romp in the evil dead series. alyssa sutherland absolutely kills it in this movie, and I do like the setting of a high rise, but I feel like it wasn't entirely utilized. fun action sequences. I just feel like it's missing a little something beneath all the blood and guts.

halloween ends

deciding to center the third movie in this trilogy around neither michael nor laurie but around a third character who was Not Mentioned in the first two movies was an extremely baffling choice. I kind of get the themes that they were going at but... this plot just doesn't work for a finale movie. the last act is interesting and satisfying but it's extremely hampered by the other 3/4ths of the movie.

halloween kills

halloween kills suffers from being the second movie in a trilogy that does nothing to set up the third movie while also being unable to progress much on the first movie's plotlines. laurie has like 10 minutes of screentime. I can excuse a lot of bad decisions by horror characters but there were far too many in this movie. I wish people knew how to double tap in this universe.

halloween (2018)

kind of extremely fine. I thought it had some interesting takes on the michael and laurie dynamic and how she's affected by him years later. it just didn't really wow me. jamie lee curtis is always great as laurie. there's one really good moment near the end of the movie that makes me yearn for what it could have been in its entirety.

Y2K

this is not a good movie. however! it is fun! and that's what matters!!! I'm only barely a 90's kid so I feel like I'm stealing some valor saying that this movie made me feel nostalgic but. I was on the computer as a toddler in 1999 so I could have experienced y2k. I'm just saying. the movie is extremely unserious and I love it.

wicked

it's. fine. okay so I am a musical purist and by that I mean I never wanted a wicked movie, I only wanted a professionally shot version of the broadway play. so a movie was always going to be hard for me to love. the visuals were fun and I really enjoyed cynthia's performance but I'm still like... this didn't blow me away LMAO

orphan: first kill

we didn't really need this sequel did me. it's extremely Fine. I'm mostly impressed that they managed to make an actress in her 20's moderately pass as a 9 year old. it's not like, bullet proof if you examine her too hard but for the length of the movie it's Fine. I liked it less than the first movie but it did try to do some interesting things to keep it from being a carbon copy of the first's plot.

orphan

finally watching this movie 15 years after it was released. it's an interesting concept for sure; and the actress playing the titular orphan does a knockout job. the actual execution leaves something to be desired. it's not Great and it's not Terrible it's kinda just. there. the dad absolutely deserved it though IDC!!!

strange darling

the narrative equivalent of never let them know your next move. a little pretentious with the shot on 35mm film message LOL. I did like the non linear narrative and the ways the movie played with gender role expectations in horror movies. but I did kinda feel it went a step too far in one of the last scenes, and kind of left me with a bad taste in my mouth as I tried to figure out what message the director was leaving me with. if nothing else I want people to make more weird indie horror movies forever

thanksgiving

would it really be an eli roth movie if there weren't incredibly insufferable characters making themselves known every five minutes. either that or a lot of nothingburger characters who get killed in spectacular ways. fun slasher as long as you don't take it too seriously. I do always like holiday themed horror movies (that aren't like. just halloween) (thankskilling do not interact)

venom: the last dance

sometimes you walk into a movie knowing it's not necessarily going to be anything deep or life changing but that it's going to be a good bit of stupid fun. and that's all you need for that day. venom movies are that kind of dumb but fun movie to me. the sequence of venom horse lives in my brain rent free. the ending did kinda get me tho. :(

godzilla minus one

this was my First godzilla movie ever and dude it was an emotional rollercoaster. I didn't expect a gripping drama when I stepped into a godzilla movie but that shit had me crying at the end. there is so much heart to the movie. the fact that the team for the movie was so small is still crazy to me; the cgi is insanely good. kinda peam.

shaun of the dead

watched at a halloween party with my sister's d&d group! some of the humor is Very 2004 but some of it is still good. comedy and horror is always a hit or miss combo with me, but the chemistry in the main cast I thought was fun enough to carry the movie. some weirdly emotional moments that I don't entirely think it earned. still a fun take on the zombie genre

creepshow

watched at a halloween party with my sister's d&d group! a wildly creative series of shorts, with fantastic practical effects. some of the scenes felt like they stretched a bit too long for my tastes, but it has a lot of heart to it. they don't make them like this anymore.

v/h/s/85

as per usual a mixed bag of shorts. strangely the weird performance art segment ended up being my favorite one only because weird performance art delights me. that and I thought it was kind of darkly hilarious how little the audience gave a shit while this woman was getting torn apart. I liked the first short a lot as well but it was deeply terrifying so I don't want to dwell on it too much.

saw

I saw this in theaters for saw's 20th anniversary yayyyyy. unfortunately I was hit by bad traffic and missed like. the first third of the movie but I still had a blast. it's a classic that launched a franchise for a reason babeyyyy

smile 2

I watched this while thinking I had lost my car+house keys so my baseline anxiety level was already pretty high (I did end up finding my keys after the movie) and the movie didn't help LOL. I liked it better than the first smile because the protagonist was more fun to follow around as a returning pop star vs a psychologist taking a break. the jump scares did end up getting me. still have a distaste for the overall message of the film which I read as depression being inescapable.

look back

cried like three times and then sat in my car and cried for ten more minutes. a raw, unfiltered look at what it's like to be an artist and experience the full range of human emotions when it comes to your work. a love letter to artists and a passionate exploration of grief and loss. I have to keep drawing. I have to keep making art. because there's someone out there who needs it.

lisa frankenstein

I really wish I liked this movie more but I think ultimately I just wasn't the target audience. the tone felt strained between grounded, serious issues like lisa's mom being murdered and that affecting her greatly and then unserious stuff like how is lisa able to hide a whole ass corpse in her room when he probably stinks to high heavens. there's a level of suspension of disbelief I couldn't justify. but I can see how this movie is loved; I think the creature's acting without speaking was great, and the set design and outfits are fantastic. just a little too tonally dissonant for me.

transformers one

I don't know a damn thing about transformers other than what is shown during the transformers ride at universal orlando studios. that being said this was kinda peam (peak). I got invested in the optimus and megatron doomed yaoi and I care bumblebee. really fun visuals as well.

a quiet place part II

I don't... entirely feel like we needed this... I feel the same way towards a quiet place 2 as I did the first one. where the concept is interesting but I don't feel like enough was done with it. I like that there's more worldbuilding to this one and we get to see how the apocalypse started, but it still feels like it's missing something for me.

v/h/s/99

as usual with the v/h/s series, this one was a mixed bag. I really enjoyed ozzy's dungeon as it was so reminiscent of the legends of the hidden temple show that I used to watch as a kid. suicide bid genuinely scared me for a moment before it took a hard turn into the paranormal. still way better than viral though

a quiet place

watched this for halloween horror nights prep. it's a perfectly serviceable mainstream horror movie, which I don't say as an insult, I just know my tastes lean a little more esoteric. I like the concept of a "quiet" horror movie but I kind of feel like not enough was done with it? it just left me feeling like "hm, ok, that was alright" without any strong feelings.

the substance

I made the objective decision to censor the sicknasty spinal wound on the poster becuase I felt it was a bit too gnarly for the regular movie page on my site. that aside. I think this is genuinely my favorite horror movie of 2024, with longlegs as a close second. gutwrenching, sickening, with a third act that is balls to the wall insane. I absolutely love the hypersaturated style of this director and am excited to see what else she makes.

in a violent nature

asmr for sickos (me). I had expected a lot of walking punctuated with bouts of intense hyperviolence and that's what it is. the gore felt kind of detached? emotionally speaking? it's hard to explain the feeling... I don't think it was bad persay, since you're seeing things through the eyes of the killer and like, the killer would not feel anything about brutally murdering people LMAO. I think the lack of non-diagetic soundtrack contributed to that. idk I think the movie had a unique feel and while I'm sure some people were bored out of their skull imo it was a very smart parody of the slasher genre.

beetlejuice beetlejuice

objectively speaking this movie was a bit messy and had a few two many plotlines to tie them up neatly together. unobjectively I had a blast and while it was a little slow getting to the fun part once the ball got rolling it was Rolling. obsessed with beetlejuice's ex-wife. he fumbled a baddie.

v/h/s/94

so like. this was a rewatch for me because after the dumpster fire that was v/h/s: viral I didn't want to go to bed on a sour note. so I put on v/h/s/94 since I had watched it before and knew I liked it. and yeah, maybe I'm biased since this was the first entry in the v/h/s series I watched, but it's still my favorite. I genuinely think each of the shorts in this have something interesting about them. I'm torn between storm drain or the subject as my favorite from this entry.

v/h/s: viral

oh man. this one Suckeddddddddd. going from v/h/s/2 to viral was like sliding down a water slide onto concrete instead of the expected pool of water. the wraparound story sucked (just a stupid concept imo) and the first short Super Sucked (did away with found footage almost entirely, was barely horror). the parallel worlds one was probably the most interesting, although it still pales in comparison to my favorites from some of the other v/h/s entries. the skateboarders vs cultists one was dumb, but at least it was dumb in a fun way. the overall theme for this one was just all over the place, and the focus on "going viral" just felt like a boomer trying to stereotype zoomers.

v/h/s/2

I watched the first v/h/s (and 94) a whileeee ago but dead meat is picking up the series (at the time of me writing this) so I decided to go through the rest of the v/h/s series after insidious because I still needed background noise while I was working on HHN art, this time a lanyard I'm making for my friends and I. I think I enjoyed this one marginally more than the first v/h/s; with the first short absolutely being the weakest. safe haven was sick as hell.

insidious: the red door

the movie that the insidious house for HHN 2024 is actually based on! I just decided to be insane and watch all the movies to have the full context. I want to get my HHN homework done this year or else. anyways this was by far the worst of the series. do NOT go to art school. had perhaps the least amount of lin shaye so far which was a detriment. I can't pinpoint what exactly I thought was bad about it so much as it just felt terrifically stale, being five movies into the series now.

insidious: the last key

aka insidious four. once again! we didn't need this movie but we sure did! I'm pretty sure at this point I was giving it points for having lin shaye, an actress in her 70's, be the leading role in a mainstream horror series. which like, disregarding how I feel about the rest of the series (terrifically mid), I think that's pretty cool. anyways uhhh the key demon had a cool design. that's it.

insidious: chapter 3

I watched all the insidious movies (aside from the first one) back to back while I was drawing stickers for HHN because I knew I would not watch five movies of a middling horror movie series otherwise. chapter three is when things start to go from "this is silly and not great but I'm still having fun" to "they didn't need to make this movie but they sure did". it's literally just OK and the fact that I can't remember anything distinguishing about this movie other than it wasn't the worst thing ever is telling enough

insidious: chapter 2

another one I watched for prep for HHN 2024. I unexpectedly liked this one more than the first insidious? still a goofy movie but in a fun way. I kind of liked the interleaving timelines gimmick they had and how it brought more context to scenes in the first movie

abigail

idk how I never got around to watching this while it was in theaters because melissa barrera is one of the leads and I want to watch any horror movie with her in it. anyways I knew very little about this movie going into it and that was for the better. it is also kind of goofy but I like horror movies that don't take themselves seriously. I might be biased in rating this high because I loved melissa's performance but it was a fun watch overall.

insidious

part of my prep for HHN 33. a throughly unserious movie and I mean that with love. I don't know if it just hasn't aged well, seeing as the tropes present in the movie have now been done to death in the decade since it was released, but I thought it was not scary and was extremely funny.

alien: romulus

I had a lot of fun with this movie! I thought andy was a really interesting character and the shots of space were really cool... the characters other than andy, rain, and rook were kind of Whatever tho.

alien

it's a classic for a reason! sigourney weaver is fantastic, the xenomorph is such an iconic design, and all the practical effects hold up (and in the case of the chestburster, I think are better than today's CGI).

cuckoo

I love when horror movies are just batshit insane without explanation. could not explain the monster in this movie to you. so many different plot points competing for attention. but the vibes were impeccable and hunter schafer does a knock out job as the lead.

the black phone

watched as a palette cleanser from the instigators and also to prepare for halloween horror nights 33. tense and dark; got me rooting for the kids to win. the grabber's mask is well designed; I like the modular style of it.

the instigators

saw because it was a $5 mystery movie at my local theater and I thought it would be one of the horror movies coming out shortly. only for it to be a made for streaming comedy/heist movie where the jokes didn't land and the action scenes were hampered by attempts at comedy. boowhomp.

trap

thriller movie with an interesting premise that is unfortunately brought down by the need to continuously up the stakes. I thought josh hartnett did a really good job with his face acting and I liked the snippets of the concert we got.

ghostbusters: frozen empire

I watched this like a month after I watched the other ghostbusters movies. I like being back in new york city and the monster of the week. I kinda feel like he was underutilized at the end though...? anyways yayyy ghostbusters fambly.

longlegs

god I love horror movies that just like. have a Mood and an Atmosphere and embrace that. the plot is kind of muddy, but tbh I can put that aside because the movie's visuals and acting were so sublime. nic cage was especially good as the titular longlegs

maxxxine

the final movie in the x/pearl/maxxxine trilogy, but I think it wasn't as strong as the other two. very giallo and I think it would have been better if it leaned into that inspiration even more. maxine didn't feel like she had as much agency as in x.

ghostbusters: afterlife

I liked the new cast for this reboot. I did think it was a little. mean spirited? at points? hard to explain... I think its a little weird that the ghostbusters are so like. unliked in universe. phoebe spangler you are so audhd to me.

ghostbusters (2016)

I thought this movie was cool when I first saw it in theaters and nearly a decade later I still think it rips!!! ghostbusters (2016) clears when you don't have a bitch in your ear telling u how it ruined their childhood or whatever. I think the humor in here is a little marvel-y for my taste but also my sense of humor is insane so I won't dock it much for that

ghostbusters II

derivative but still interesting. the sheer audacity of piloting the statue of liberty like a mech gives it an extra half a heart. they fucked that slime...

ghostbusters

believe it or not I had never watched the original ghostbusters before deciding on a bus to new york city this past july I was going to do a back to back ghostbusters marathon to prepare for HHN 33. it was a lot more bonkers than I expected. the casual 80's sexism was a letdown ngl.

five nights at freddy's

I watched this with a japanese dub on a flight to orlando and then watched it again with the english casting with my florida friends. it is perfectly servicable as a pg-13 horror movie. practical effects were cool.

everything everywhere all at once

one of the most movies of all time. funny and heartbreaking all at once. when I got to the line about doing taxes with you, I almost burst into tears.

saw x

did not expect the movie to open up with 40 minutes of john kramer dealing with his own mortality but here we are. gnarly traps, kramer getting fleshed out beyond jigsaw, and a truly evil villain to make jigsaw look like the good guy.

birth/rebirth

re-animator but make it an artsy and contemplative psychological thriller instead of a schlocky and gross b-movie. very much a slowburn; the last 13 minutes hit like a truck.

when evil lurks

usually I hate horror movies where the protagonists are inept but it works for when evil lurks. it's a movie about failure, and it revels in the chaos caused by the failure. no one is safe.

saltburn

I think the hype for this one ruined it for me because I was expecting something totally off the wall and I got something... more subdued than that. I felt kind of bored at times. the ending sequence is certainly a choice.